Zelda Chandler

Zelda N. Chandler, age 94 of Melbourne, Fl, formerly of Columbia, Missouri died Monday, May 30th, 2016 in her home. Services will be held 10: A.M. Saturday, June 25, 2016, at the Hugeback-Johnson Funeral Home-Olson Chapel in Nashua, IA. Interment will be in Oak Hill Cemetery, Nashua. Friends may greet the family 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. Saturday, June 25, 2016, at Hugeback - Johnson Funeral Home - Olson Chapel in Nashua, IA. Zelda was born December 21, 1921 in Cambridge, Iowa, the daughter of Murrel and Melvessa (Severson) Scott. She attended Walnut Grove and Cambridge grade schools and Maxwell High School. Zelda was about 11 years old when she began to sing with her brother Harold and sister Faye at the Fourth of July county fair celebrations as well as other neighborhood occasions doing solo, duet and trio tunes that were popular at that time. Their father would often accompany them on his fiddle. In 1937, Faye and Zelda entered a talent contest at the Des Moines State Fair that was sponsored by radio station KRNT. They won first place and the prize was a six-week contract with the popular variety show 'Hawkeyes Dinner Time'. This started her entertainment and singing career which included radio stations, KRNT, WNAX in Yankton, KFNF in Shenandoah and WHO in Des Moines, Iowa where she worked for 19 years. Her sister Faye joined the WHO family in 1947 to reunite the 'Scott Sisters'. Ronald Reagan, who was a sports announcer at WHO in the 1930's, was invited back to WHO in 1943 for an on air interview. Zelda sat in the front row! Another special event was when President Truman gave a campaign speech nearby. A group of WHO staffers put on the entertainment and Zelda and Faye sang 'Two Little Girls in Blue.' In the 1950's Mary Randolph joined them and the trio was known as the Blue Ridge Mountain Gals. In 1959, she married Tom Chandler in the Little Brown Church in Nashua. She left her singing career and moved to Columbia, Missouri. During their first year of marriage she traveled with Tom, who worked for the Neptune Water Company. They lived there for 31 years until Tom retired in 1984. In 1990 Zelda and Tom moved to Lady Lake, Florida, eventually moving to Rockledge, Florida in 2002 to be near her stepson Steve. Zelda is survived by her stepson Steven Chandler and wife Sandra of Melbourne, Fl, stepdaughter Linda Chandler of Iowa City, Iowa, brother Lynn Scott of Leon, Iowa, grandchildren, great grandchildren and many nieces, nephews and cousins. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband Tom, sister Faye and four brothers: Lyle, Loren, Harold and Ferris.